Car Show Rumbles Into North Fork

NORTH FORK — Just after noon Saturday, a red Ferrari, three sleek Corvette convertibles and a vintage Mustang Fastback roared through the “exact center” of California.

The rare, collectible cars were among the entrants in the annual North Fork Car Show, held in downtown North Fork Saturday afternoon.

The popular event, a fundraiser for the North Fork Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, drew dozens of exotic hot rods and cool rides to town.

The 2019 edition of the family-friendly event, also billed as a “street party,” included food, music and an up-close-and-personal view of more than 40 vehicles, some nearly a century old, some still exuding that “new car” smell from their pristine, leather interiors.

Several hundred visitors came to Saturday’s show to peek under the hoods — and swap stories with the vehicles’ owners.

Dan Morris and his 1927 Ford Roadster

In addition to the cars and motorcycles on display up and down main street, there were also a number of informational booths and vendors pedaling everything from made-on-the-spot smoothies to locally crafted Indian jewelry.

AAA had a booth at the show, offering information about auto policies as well as home and life insurance.

The Madera County Sheriff’s Foundation shared a booth with Amanda’s Coffee Shop, which donated 50 percent of the day’s sales to the Sheriff’s Foundation.

But the car show was the main event on Saturday.

Some local residents set up lawn chairs along the roadside to watch the parade of pricey rolling stock pass while other show attendees took a more active role, asking questions of the cars’ owners and peeking under hoods and inside vehicles to admire high-horsepower engines, restored interiors and custom chrome and body work.

Entrants in nearly a dozen classes — from pre-1930 to 1991-present — competed for awards that included ‘best paint,’ ‘best engine’ and ‘best interior.’

Gary Williams and his vintage Torino Squire wagon

North Fork resident Dan Morris brought his 1927 Ford Roadster to compete in this year’s show. Morris said the car featured a 1933 “overhead” engine.

“I rebuilt the entire car from the ground up,” Morris said. “The overhead engine is what makes it really rare.”

Gary Williams was at the show to showoff his vintage Ford Torino Squire station wagon, complete with faux wood side panels and decals in rear window. “It’s got over 400,000 miles and still runs like a top,” Williams said.